Oregon agency wants to allow seaplanes at Waldo Lake

A canoe is pointed toward the north shore of Waldo Lake, with Mount Bachelor (left) and Cultus Mountain rising above the horizon.Terry Richard / The Oregonian

A state agency says it wants to make permanent its rules allowing aircraft to use Waldo Lake in the Cascade Range, where lake users for years have fought over engines.

The Eugene Register-Guard says advocates of a ban won a large part of the argument in the spring, when the state Marine Board voted 3-2 to keep its ban on motorboat internal combustion engines on Waldo.

But the board exempted seaplanes, and the state Aviation Board allowed them with temporary rules. It has set a public hearing in Springfield for Jan. 31 on permanent rules.

A department official says that six seaplanes used the lake last summer.